USA-VA-Counties History ~ Link - Kentucky County
History / Timeline / Formation of Kentucky Counties ~
Contains dates for the following:
1772 ~ Fincastle County, Virginia was formed from
Botetourt County Virginia
1776 ~ Kentucky County, Virginia (and others) were formed
from Fincastle County, Virginia
which was abolished
1785 ~ Bourbon County, Virginia (later Kentucky) was
formed from Fayette County, Virginia.
1780 ~ Fayette County, Virginia (later Kentucky) was
formed from Kentucky County, Virginia. One of the first
three counties of Kentucky
(with Lincoln and Jefferson Counties).
1780 ~ Jefferson County, Virginia (later Kentucky) was
formed from Kentucky County, Virginia.
One of the first
three counties of Kentucky
(with Lincoln and Fayette Counties).
1780 ~ Kentucky County, Virginia was abolished
1783 ~ District of Kentucky, Virginia was formed for
judicial reasons. It included Fayette, Lincoln,
and
Jefferson Counties, Virginia
1791 ~ Kentucky was admitted as a state (to be formally
admitted as the 15th state on 1 Jun 1792) followed on 18
Feb 1792 by Vermont
which was as the 14th state.
1792 ~ Kentucky was admitted from Virginia as the 15th
state of the United States. Although legislative action
was taken on 18 Feb 1792 to create Vermont, it was
created on that date making it the 14th state

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1607 ... The Virginia Company of London founded
the first permanent English settlement in America at
Jamestown.

1624 ... The King dissolved the Virginia Company
and established Virginia as a crown colony with
an
elected General Assembly.

1710- ... Passes across the Blue Ridge Mountains
leading from Eastern 1740s Virginia into the Shenandoah
Valley were discovered. Emigrants from Pennsylvania and
New Jersey began to enter
the valley.

1750-1784 ... Land grants made to the Ohio Company
encouraged ex-ploration beyond the Alleghenies. The new
area southeast of the Ohio River was organized by
Virginia in 1775 as the District of West Augusta,
although much of this was ceded to PA. in 1786.

1779 ... part of Virginia became part of North
Carolina

1770s ... The Wilderness Road opened access across
the Cumberland Gap from Virginia into Kentucky. The area
that was to become Kentucky was organized as Kentucky
County, Virginia, in 1776.

1780s ... In 1784, Virginia formally ceded its
claims north of the Ohio River to the United States. In
1788 Virginia ratified the United States constitution to
become a state.

1786 ... part of Virginia became part of
Pennsylvania.

1792 ... part of Virginia became Kentucky.

1792 ... Kentucky became a separate state..

1803 ... part of Virginia became part of Tennessee.

1803 ... part of Virginia became Ohio and Indiana
Territory.

1816 ... former part of Virginia became Indiana.

1818 ... former part of Virginia became Illinois.

1861-1870 ... Most of Virginia joined the
Confederacy, although fifty Western counties broke off
and were admitted to the Union as the state of West
Virginia in 1863. Virginia was readmitted to the
Union in
1870.

1863 ... part of Virginia became West Virginia.

COUNTIES FORMERLY IN VIRIGNIA

Prior to 1784 the commonwealth of Virginia
consisted of a vast territory extending West from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Mississippi River, and North from the North Carolina
line to the Great Lakes.

Beginning in 1784, the size of the commonwealth decreased:

1784 the US Congress accepted Virginia's
cessation of its Northwestern lands;

parts of three Virginia counties were added to
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania between 1776 and
1785;

and between 1784 and 1792 residents of the area
known as the District of Kentucky held ten
conventions on the question of statehood. On
December 18, 1789, the General Assembly of
Virginia passed an act to allow Kentucky to apply
for statehood, and on June 1792 Kentucky's nine
counties became a state.

With the start of the Civil War in 1861, fifty (50)
of Virginia's Western counties voted to remain in the Union. West
Virginia became a state. on June 23, 1863.

Illinois County was named for the Illini,
a confederacy of woodland tribes. The French changed the name,
which means "the men," to Illinois. Illinois County was
Created in Dec. 1778 after George Rogers Clark had captured
several British posts on the Mississippi River within Virginia's
boundaries. The county included all of that territory between the
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers that now constitutes the states of
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as a
small part of Minnesota. The General Assembly continued the
county's existence until January 5, 1782. On March 1, 1784, the
Illinois Territory was ceded to Congress and ceased to be part of
the commonwealth of Virginia.

Yohogania County (EXTINCT), meaning (stream
flowing), was created in 1776, when the District of West Augusta
was divided into three new counties: Monongalia, Ohio and
Yohogania. Within nine (9) years, almost all of Yohogania, and
much of Ohio and Monongalia Counties, became part of the
commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The remaining portions of Ohio and
Monongalia Counties in 1863 became part of the new state of West
Virginia. Yohogania remained a Virginia County until the October1785
session of the General Assembly. At that time, the assembly
recognized that, since the Western boundary of Pennsylvania had
been extended, and had taken in most of Yohogania, the area left
was too small to remain a separate county. So the rest of
Yohogania was added to Ohio County.

County Seat - established 1789 - Hopewell - 1790
its name was changed briefly to Bourbonton and
then to its present name, Paris.

Fayette County was created in 1780 and was one of
the three original counties that made up the District of
Kentucky. Fayette County consisted of the Northern and
Eastern portions of the present state.

County Seat - Lexington.

Jefferson County was named for Thomas Jefferson
from 1779 to 1781. Established in 1780, it was one of the
three original counties that made up the District of
Kentucky. Jefferson County consisted of the middle
section of the present state.

County Seat - Louisville.

Kentucky County (extinct) was created in 1776 from
Fincastle County. Kentucky County became extinct in Nov.
1780, when it was divided into Fayette, Jefferson and
Lincoln Counties.

Lincoln County was named for Major General
Benjamin Lincoln. Formed in 1780, Lincoln County was the
third of the original counties established in the
District of Kentucky. It consisted of the Western portion
of the present state.

1st County Seat - Harrodsburg, until
it became the center of government for Mercer
County, which was created in 1785.

2nd County Seat - 1785 - Stanford.

Madison County was created in 1785 out of part of
Lincoln County - named after James Madison.

1st County Seat - Milford was the
original

2nd County Seat - 1798 county's
government moved to Richmond, Kentucky.

Mason County named after George Mason, author of
the Virginia Declaration of Rights. It was formed from
Bourbon County in 1788.

1st County Seat - Washington

2nd County Seat - 1848 - Maysville.

Mercer County was named for General Hugh Mercer,
of Fredericksburg, who died at the Battle of Princeton,
New Jersey, during the American Revolution.

County Seat - 1785 - Harrodsburg.

Nelson County was named for Thomas Nelson, Jr., of
Virginia in 1781. Created in 1784.

Barbour County - formed from parts of Harrison,
Lewis, and Randolph Counties in 1843.

County Seat - Philippi.

Berkeley County - created from Frederick County in
1772.

County Seat - Martinsburg.

Boone County formed from Kanawha, Cabell, and
Logan counties in 1847.

County Seat - Madison.

Braxton County created in 1836 from Lewis and
Nicholas Counties and part of Randolph County was added
in 1849.

County Seat - Sutton.

Brooke County formed in 1796 from Ohio County.

County Seat -Wellsburg.

Cabell County created in 1809 from Kanawha County.

1st County Seat - Barboursville was
the County Seat until

2nd County Seat - 1887 - moved to
Huntington.

Calhoun County was formed from Gilmer County in
1856.

1st County Seats - Earlier County
Seats were located at Arnoldsburg, Brooksville,
and the mouth of Pine Creek.

Final County Seat - Grantsville.

Clay County created in 1858 from sections of
Braxton and Nicholas Counties.

County Seat - Clay.

Doddridge County formed from parts of Harrison,
Tyler, Ritchie and Lewis Counties in 1845.

County Seat - West Union.

Fayette County formed from Logan, Greenbrier,
Nicholas and Kanawha Counties in 1831. Virginia's first
Fayette County lay in the Western area that became
Kentucky.

County Seat - Fayetteville.

Gilmer County created in 1845 from portions of
Lewis and Kanawha Counties.

1st County Seat - Dekalb

2nd County Seat - 1856 - moved to
Glenville.

Greenbrier County formed in 1778 from parts of
Botetourt and Montgomery Counties, and portions of Monroe
and Fayette Counties were added later.

County Seat - Lewisburg.

Hampshire County oldest county in the state of
West VA. Created by law in 1754 from sections of Augusta
and Frederick Counties, border unrest during the French
and Indian War delayed the formal organization of county
government until 1757. Part of Augusta and Hardy Counties
were added to Hampshire later.

County Seat - Romney.

Hancock County created in 1848 from Brooke County.
It is the smallest county in the state of West Virginia.

County Seat -New Cumberland.

Hardy County formed in 1786 from Hampshire County.

County Seat -Moorefield.

Harrison County created in 1784 from Monongalia
County. Additional sections of Monongalia, Randolph and
Ohio counties were added between 1800 and 1804.

County Seat - Clarksburg.

Jackson County created in 1801 from Berkeley
County.

County Seat -Charles Town.

Kanawha County was first named Kenhawa but later
changed to Kanawha. Formed in 1788 from parts of
Greenbrier and Montgomery Counties.

County Seat - Charleston (also the State Capital).

Lewis County created in 1816 from Harrison County
and in 1818 part of Randolph County was added to Lewis.

County Seat -Weston.

Logan County created in 1824 from sections of
Giles, Cabell, Tazewell and Kanawha Counties. In 1830
additional parts of Cabell and Kanawha were added.

County Seat - Logan.

McDowell County formed from Tazewell County in
1858.

1st County Seat - Perryville (courthouse
not built there until 1872).

2nd County Seat - 1872, Welch was
chosen by the voters as the new County Seat.

Marion County formed in 1842 from Monongalia and
Harrison Counties.

County Seat - Fairmont.

Marshall County formed from Ohio County in 1835.

1st County Seat - Elizabethtown was
named as the County Seat in the act creating the
county, but merged with Moundsville in 1866

2nd County Seat - Moundsville is the
present County Seat.

Mason County created from Kanawha in 1804.

County Seat - Point Pleasant.

Mercer County created in 1837 from portions Giles
and Tazewell Counties.

County Seat - Princeton.

Monongalia County (Indian name meaning the river
of crumbling or caving banks) created in 1776 from the
District of West Augusta and parts of Augusta County were
added in 1779 an 1780.

County Seat - Morgantown.

Monroe County formed in 1799 from Greenbrier
County and in 1802 part of Botetourt was added.

County Seat - Union.

Morgan County formed in 1820 from parts of Berkely
and Hampshire Counties.

County Seat - Berkeley Springs.

Nicholas County created in 1818 from sections of
Greenbrier, Kanawha and Randolph Counties.

County Seat - Summersville.

Ohio County created in 1776 at the same time as
Monongalia County from part of the District of West
Augusta. In 1785, part of Yohogania County was added to
Ohio.

County Seat - Wheeling (formerly known as
Zanesville).

Pendleton County formed in 1788 from parts of
Augusta, Hardy, and Rockingham Counties. In 1790, an
additional section of Augusta County was added to
Pendleton and in 1796 part of Bath County as well.

County Seat - Franklin.

Pleasants County created in 1851 from portions of
Wood, Tyler and Richie Counties.

County Seat - Saint Marys.

Pocahontas County formed in 1821 from parts of
Bath, Pendleton and Randolph Counties, and in 1824 a
section of Greenbrier County was added.

County Seat - Marlinton.

Preston County created in 1818 from a portion of
Monongalia County, Parts of Randolph County were added in
1828 and 1838, and in 1841 another portion of Monongalia
was added.

County Seat - Kingwood.

Putnam County formed from sections of Kanawha,
Calbell, and Mason Counties in 1848.

County Seat - Winfield.

Raleigh County formed from part of Fayette County
in 1850.

County Seat - Beckley.

Randolph County formed in 1786 from Harrison
County, the largest county in the state.

1st County Seat - Beverly

2nd County Seat - 1898 - moved to
Elkins.

Ritchie County created in 1843 from parts of
Lewis, Harrison and Wood counties.

County Seat - Harrisville.

Roane County formed in 1856 from portions of
Kanawha, Jackson, and Gilmer Counties.

County Seat - Spencer.

Taylor County formed in 1844 from portions of
Harrison, Barbour, and Marion Counties, and another part
of Marion County was added in 1856.

1st County Seat - Pruntytown was the
first County Seat

2nd County Seat - 1878 the Town of
Grafton.

Tucker County formed from part of Randolph County.

County Seat - Parsons.

Tyler County formed in 1814 from part of Ohio
County.

County Seat - Middlebourne.

Upshur County was created in 1851 from sections of
Randolph, Barbour, and Lewis Counties.

County Seat - Buckhannon.

Wayne County created in 1842 from part of Cabell
County.

County Seat - Wayne.

Webster County formed from parts of Nicholas and
Randolph Counties.

County Seat - Webster Springs.

Wetzel County formed in 1846 from part of Tyler
County.

County Seat - New Martinsville.

Wirt County created in 1848 from portions of Wood
and Jackson Counties.

County Seat - Elizabeth.

Wood County formed from Harrison County in 1798,
and in 1800 part of Kanawha County was added.